Oyster Season Opens

Many families in coastal Alabama are searching for shellfish.

Oyster season is officially underway in state waters.

 Fishermen had hoped the season would have opened sooner, but, the early results are promising.

Oyster fishermen had big hauls on the first day of oyster season.

It didn't take long for them to reach their limit.

Matthew McElroy said, "I caught 16 sacks today. That's pretty good for this time of year."

Rodney Fox, a seafood dealer with R & A Oyster, said, "We had some make the limit in about an hour, hour and a half, earlier in the day.

One dealer said he's paying fishermen 30 cents a pound for their catch.

Fox said, "The oysters are really nice: meat looks really good, size is nice, quality is really more than you would expect right now."

Heron Bay is open now, but for how long?

Oyster fisherman Bobby Wescovich said, "I know they're going to keep this open until we cant get our limit, and then, they're going to open some up the bay, and, that when that lays down, they're going to open some more on the reef, I guess."

Jason Herrmann with Alabama Marine Resources said, "Our goal is to go for a good harvest, without depleting the reefs completely, and so, its fine: that fine balance between when is enough enough."

Oyster fishermen had wanted the season to open three weeks ago, but natural resource officials wanted to make sure the weather was cool enough so there wouldn't be any health questions.